As layoffs and budget cuts hit federal agencies, lawmakers explore taking over some public land
Could Utah jointly manage its five national parks with the federal government? What if a stretch of U.S. Forest Service land in Davis County becomes a new state park? Can Little Sahara Recreation Area be transferred to the state's control?
Those are a few of the questions posed in a resolution sponsored by Rep. Steve Eliason, R-Sandy, that passed out of the House Public Utilities and Energy Committee on Tuesday morning. HCR12 received one 'no' vote from Rep. Rosalba Dominguez, D-Murray, and will move to the House for consideration.
As federal land management agencies, which manage about 68% of the entire state, continue to experience layoffs and budget cuts, Eliason and other lawmakers say the state could swoop in to take control of a handful of areas in Utah.
His resolution does the following:
Explores the idea of jointly managing the state's five national parks — Arches, Bryce Canyon, Canyonlands, Capitol Reef and Zion — with the federal government. That would allow the state to 'improve management efficiency and visitor experiences while reducing federal expenditures,' according to the resolution.
Directs the Utah Division of State Parks to work with the U.S. Forest Service to turn the Antelope Flat Campground — located on the southeast side of Flaming Gorge Reservoir — into the Flaming Gorge State Park. 'Flaming Gorge is just a fabulous recreation opportunity in the state, but its access is being limited because of the lack of funding and staffing out of Washington, D.C.,' Eliason said.
Directs the division to explore the idea of either purchasing, leasing or transferring a stretch of U.S. Forest Service Land in the Wasatch Mountains east of Bountiful, Centerville and Farmington. Located along Skyline Drive, local leaders in the area have proposed naming the area Skyline State Park.
Allows the division to work with the Bureau of Land Management to transfer Little Sahara Recreation Area in Juab County to the state. Utah already authorized this transfer through legislation in 2017, but it would require approval from the BLM, which hasn't happened yet.
Directs the division to broadly evaluate 'recreational and scenic locations in the state,' to create new state parks, monuments, and campgrounds, with a focus on the Monte Cristo area south of Bear Lake and state land within the San Rafael Swell near Green River.
The resolution 'urges' Utah's congressional delegation to enact legislation that would create a framework for these land purchases, transfers or joint management agreements to take place.
As of now, the resolution is exploratory. There is no fiscal note, meaning lawmakers don't intend to spend any state funds with the resolution. Eliason called it an attempt to 'gather the facts — what are the costs going to be, what are the challenges?'
The resolution is the latest example of state leaders' interest in controlling federal lands within Utah's borders. That sentiment culminated last year in an ambitious lawsuit filed with the U.S. Supreme Court, where Utah tried to argue that it was unconstitutional for the Bureau of Land Management to hold onto federal land without giving it a formal designation. The high court declined to hear the lawsuit in January.
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The reasoning outlined in Eliason's resolution is much different than the lawsuit, and during the committee meeting Tuesday morning he pushed back on concerns that this was an attempt by Utah to take over swaths of public land, including national parks.
The U.S. Department of Interior, under Biden, moved to jointly manage some public land with tribal governments, including Utah's Bears Ears National Monument, and the agreement Eliason is seeking through his resolution would be similar.
'This is not buying or transferring the national parks to Utah. They remain federally designated national parks, but clearly there is a funding void, and the bureaucracy to get things done is immense,' he said.
Eliason said he started working on this resolution before the Trump administration was cutting budgets and laying off thousands of workers with the U.S. Forest Service and National Park Service and other federal agencies with a footprint in Utah. Now, he said, the goal of taking control of federal land is more pressing.
'As a state, we have a choice, if there was some cooperative arrangement made where we could help mitigate those job losses and those lost recreation opportunities,' he said. 'Because I don't see the federal government addressing it anytime in the near future. So we could just complain and say, 'this is really too bad for our citizens and our visitors.' Or we can say, 'is there a way we can step in?''
Some lawmakers urged caution during Tuesday's meeting, including Rep. Carl Albrecht, R-Richfield, who ultimately voted for the bill, but had concerns about the state biting off more than it could chew.
'With the new administration, be prepared for budget cuts. And that's coming true. And that's going to affect the state because the state operates a lot on federal grants,' he said. 'Before we step into the deep water, we need to know how to swim and we need to know where we're headed with some of this stuff.'
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